Just Make Stuff

Pumpkins '09

So I guess I should giving a play-by-play on the pumpkin carving that took place last night, but I have another topic I've been thinking about.

I love Mac.

Well, of course I do being his mom and all. I should be more specific and say I really love this new teenager Mac. I have spent too much time worrying that I wouldn't be as fond of this age and stage, but I have to admit it's really fun. Granted we still have a long haul ahead so all I can hope for is that we can enjoy these kind of moments...

When we got the Halloween boxes out of the attic last week Mac wanted to check out some of his old videos including his very favorite Out of the Box from ten year ago...10 years! How is that I can even make a statement referring to my child that can include the words "ten years ago". So that's why he was dancing around to it while carving his "original jack-o-lantern".

Can't wait for tonight's party...pizza, treats and lots of hot apple cider at our house! Happy Halloween!

Last call...

I've been wrapping the gifts that need to be given before the holidays since this week I pulled together the pile of Christmas gifts I've accumulated so far and got the holiday wrapping supplies ready.

It's my mother-in-law's birthday next week so I need to make sure her gift in the mail tomorrow...

 

Then Sean's principal is having her first child soon and her school baby shower is this Friday (another version of this card)...

 

Sean forgot to tell me the shower was this Friday so yesterday I ran to Babies'R'Us and dealt with their always confusing gift registry. I stood in the store for almost forty-five minutes just trying to figure out her gift. 

I think it is pretty fair to say that a majority of the time I manage to be an infertile pillar of strength at this point in life. That is until I walk in to Babies'R"Us... it's ridiculous how much that store unnerves me...I can't help but think of when we were so happy to be shopping for various items and usually end up leaving in tears. 

Good thing I can go home and concentrate on simple, happy things like stamping a label for the envelope... 

Seven...

That's the number of big pumpkins sitting out in the backyard waiting for the carve-a-thon Mac and Sean will have on Friday night. Once again this year we took advantage of a local garden center's all you can carry deal...and after seeing this video I thought it'd be fun to record our attempt.

I will share it under two conditions...one that you disregard that I look like a fat slob and two that Mac the cameraman makes an totally inappropriate comment about it...one that he has gotten in trouble about before and that I didn't hear him say at the time otherwise you would have seen me shoot a look that could kill towards the camera...

Sean was able to hold six and the nice guy helping told us to just grab one more to take home with us.

Here's the great pumpkin holder...

 

Documentation...

Some iPhone photos tell the story of the last week...

My mom had another shoulder surgery (that thankfully went pretty well) and came back to our house to recuperate...so did the continuous passive motion machine chair thing she had to use...we called it the electric chair.

A good friend of ours stayed with us for a few days so we got to spend plenty of time laughing...for instance when we stopped by cupcake place for dessert before dropping her off at the airport and she and Mac enthusiastically selected birthday candles to blow out for no reason whatsoever.

More crocheting...my mom got me started on making dishcloths with this cute yarn and I'm working on a little blanket to cover the ottoman on my reading chair with this thick and cozy yarn...can you tell I'm getting increasingly addicted?

And we're all decorated for Halloween...the front porch and the entryway...and Mac spent some time with little pumpkins, paint and googly eyes this afternoon. Of course tonight some Santa Ana winds started up with a vengeance so Sean had to go back out and take some of the decor down already just to be safe.

Looking forward to a (hopefully) productive week...

A little more explanation...

Someone asked today how I made the planner itself and it occurred to me that I foolishly had posted about my little holiday planner with the assumption that most people knew what I was talking about.

Three years ago I taught a holiday planner class...I designed forms that I thought would come in handy for keeping various aspects of the holidays organized like meal planning, address lists for cards, gift giving and thank you notes just to name a few. I also filled the book with envelopes to hold things like receipts, recipes or postage stamps...

The book came together with sturdy book board covers and was three ringed. (that's why I mentioned listing those supplies in my Etsy shop) I also used patterned papers and metal rimmed tags to make subject dividers.

I have been using it since 2006 and have found it handy to see my lists year after year. I know who we received Christmas cards from last year, what we served at every party we hosted and what gifts we gave/received. As I share PDF files of the forms you will be able to print out as many as you'd like and develop a book in order to keep track of the holidays over the years too.

Okay I have to finish preparing to be without electricity tomorrow, but before I go the buttons went to lucky #13...

Once Upon a Memory said...
I took your planner class @ Oasis and have used it for every Christmas since! So helpful to keep Christmas organized. One little surprise that was wonderful: I had forgotten I had stashed several hundred dollars in cash into one of the envelopes to use for present shopping, and happily discovered it the following Christmas!

Buttons seem to make their way onto everything I make -- cards, layouts, etc. Would love to win your little bag of old buttons.

Catherine
October 19, 2009 at 08:39 AM

Catherine please e-mail me your address.
 

Another Sunday night...

We have had a great last few days with friends staying with us and the couple of events we had planned this weekend. Now it's all about the last minute Sunday night tasks around here as we get ready for a busy week. 

Between the three of us we have four appointments tomorrow. Then tomorrow evening I have to prepare for Tuesday night when I'll have seven classmates over for dinner and to work on the group project we have due in two weeks. Last week we received a notice that the power would be off all day Tuesday for some kind of maintenance so that definitely is presenting some challenges. 

And today I just futzed around...getting little projects done...some that I needed to do like continuing my research for a paper...and some I really didn't need to do like organize a box of old buttons I've had tucked away...

A project I did need to get done (since I promised last week) was starting to share about holiday planning. In all my PDFing fun I decided to share the pages from my holiday planner class a few years ago.

Here's the first page...Download Planner--Master gift List 10-28-06 this way you can start to plan your gift-giving for 2009.

 

You can cut each sheet in half and start to make a planner of your own...or if you would like a little more help I listed several of the covers in my Etsy shop.

I'll be sharing more of the forms in the coming weeks and discussing how I have used them over the past few years.

Oh and one last thing...I filled a little envelope with some of those old buttons to share with someone so if you'd like them please just let me know.

Black and White...

This weekend Sean and I are going to a wedding for one of his colleagues...Sean has worked with her (and her sister) for years so I've gotten the chance to know them a little and know they are both very fun, stylish people. Her invitation was black and white along with most of the items on her registry so I had to keep up the theme...

I made another fabric envelope...for this card...

 

And since we got them the two loaf pans they requested, measuring cups and a set of spatulas I had to gather some of our favorite recipes...

And I made them into a PDF file in case you'd like them too...Download Recipe Cards.

That's the way it works...

Once I get more and more busy with school and life all of a sudden I want to scrapbook...

 

 
 


 

Just in case you're interested...

Since the oval mirror was hung up last week I took down the collection of collages in our entry way. I'm saving a few to hang in our dining room, but the other five I put in my Etsy shop...

This week...

1. I will make Mac turkey cranberry sandwiches for lunch since that's what he requested...

 

2. I will have fantastic company when a good friend flies into town to stay with us Wednesday through Saturday

3. I will do a little gift giving post once I finish getting something wrapped

4. I will get these printed out and into my neighbor's mailboxes

5. I will start discussing getting organized for the holidays here on the blog 

It's going to be a good week. 

Ta Da...

My sister is having her third baby late next month and since she's pretty well equipped with baby gear and clothing I had the idea to make the new baby (MaryJane McIntosh...she'll be named after my mom which I think is pretty darn cute) a blanket.

I've made one other blanket...it's rainbow colored, about seven feet long, and narrow on one end then twice as wide on the other. Oh and it took me three years to complete it. So to crochet a blanket in about 10 weeks that is actually even on both sides was a significant accomplishment considering my lack of hand/eye coordination.

I triumphantly finished it on Wednesday night.

I even called my mom to shamelessly brag about it.

It's white and brown and pink.

And it's done.

 

 

 

I think one of my very favorite feelings on this earth is successfully learning how to make something new.

And then I didn't have quite enough yarn to make one last row on the blanket so I made one long single chain to wrap around the gift like ribbon.
 
 

This is my new favorite idea and makes me extra eager to start wrapping Christmas gifts...can't you just see a few big thick chains wrapped around a gift?

Cannot wait to give it to my sister.

Pumpkins...

I took about fifty photos of them today...and a few of Sean and Mac...and poor Sean had to take too many of Mac and I since I'm the most unphotogenic person ever...and Mac wouldn't sincerely smile unless Sean made a joke about poop to get him laughing..and I'm not a big fan of poop jokes so that certainly didn't help in eliciting a sincere smile from me.

Tomorrow I'm super excited to share a project I've worked on since July...just have to get it all wrapped up first.

Starred...

1. autumn confettis, 2. confetti at it's best, 3. pumpkin love, 4. found, 5. at the orchard, 6. at the orchard

My latest Google Reader discoveries...

• always love organizing in rainbow order
• so cute and colorful
• I want to bake these, these and some of these too
• even though I just finished making cards these Halloween cards have me wanting to make more
• I also want to try to do this and I have to make some of these
• The next time I open a can I'll be thinking of what I can do with it

It's starting...

I am in the beginning stages of having a mild yet ever-present level of stress due to what I need to get done in the next several weeks...it just simmers under the surface of my mind all day long...hopefully that means it will drive me to get things accomplished.

 

Today I've done pretty well...I was lucky to have a pile of packages to take to the post office...halloween boxes to my niece and my sister and a bunch of cards kits and a few sale items (there are just a couple of kits left that I would love to mail tomorrow if anyone's interested).

Between the treadmill and the shower I think I could solve the world's problems or at least some of my own. Today I was able to develop a rough outline for the fifteen page paper I need to write.

I did the usual dishes and put a couple of pumpkins in Mac's room. They're one of the random treasures my mom gave me this past weekend...growing up they were part of the halloween decorations I'd put in my room...my mom taught me early on to love every holiday...and Mac is definitely the next generation of that.

I put together scarecrow crunch so I could send a little in the Halloween packages and give some to our neighbors with annual pizza party invites. And I enjoyed seeing the oval mirror in our entryway since Sean hang up for me last night.

Off to accomplish a couple more things before class tonight.

Oh and the envelope of extras went to comment #11...

Heather Freeman said...

Love the Happy Wrappings set I received last week....would love more!
Thanks for having the contest!

Heather I have your address from when you ordered so the envelope will be in the mail tomorrow.
 

I'm all ready...

I think the very best part of making a card kit is that I end up with a bunch of cards all ready to send to friends and family.

I hope you would like to join me in having a little stack of cards ready to to send greetings this fall...the kit is for sale here. It was so much fun to make and is packed with favorite things...stamping and patterned paper...ribbon, doilies, and my new favorite wood grain cardstock.

I am also excited now that I learned this whole PDF business (thanks for letting me know it worked for you) I was able to take photos of various card making steps and can offer far more detailed directions that will be e-mailed to you with your purchase.

Finally if you know me you know I love to clean out and organize everything and that's what I am trying to do with my Etsy shop items so the few things I have leftover from summer crafting are listed at 50% off their original price and shipping will be free when you purchase a fall card kit.

I also have a little envelope filled the my kit making leftovers...so if you would like it please leave a comment and I'll do a random drawing tomorrow evening.

Off to write a card to a friend...
 

In addition to watching hours of college football...

I have put together the supplies for 77 cards (with a lot of help from Sean). I guess this is apropos considering today is World Card Making Day. I had planned to make a kit of four cards, but somehow I was able to make seven yesterday so I'll have eleven kits of them in the shop on Sunday night.

Now we're going to finish watching the Notre Dame game and then we have a hot Saturday night date...errand running at Costco, Target and the Oasis...got to pick up supplies for the next project.
 

October means...

Seeing piles of pumpkins as I walked into the grocery store this morning.

Buying the cutest birthday gift for my niece in Iowa who turns three this month.

That I wanted to make soup tonight...even though the 90 degree weather isn't exactly fall-ish.

And getting my calendar ready for the coming months.

 
  
Someone had asked me to sell the cover pages in my Etsy shop when I posted them in August. I can't profit from them since they're not my original designs...but I figured I should be able to share these images with my friends...especially now that I've learned how to PDF things.

So here are the cover pages...

Download Month Cover Sheets

Here are the empty months (since I figured you didn't care when we have Mac for the weekend or when my brother's birthday is)...

Download Month Documents

And here are my little weekly and daily sheets...

Download 3rd Weekly Planner 8-21-09

Download An especially busy day 9-30-09

You should be able to cut the covers exactly to a page that is 8.5" tall and 6.5 inches wide. With the calendars you want to cut a close border on the right and leave space on the left to punch holes (you can see what I mean if you look at the photos from the binder blog post). The pages will fit into these binders (or patterned ones) and they work in these binders too.

Oh and speaking of the shop...today I have been working on a fall card kit (there are piles on pretty much every surface of my craft room including this one on the arm of the couch)...it should be all ready on Monday...

 

P.S. Can you tell I'm finding my iPhone very handy for taking a quick photo?

P.P.S. Since it's my first time making them can you please let me know if the PDFs worked for you? Thanks.

Cold...

I'm getting ready to head out to the grocery store, but I wanted to share this photo I quickly snapped with my phone this morning since a few people have asked me about how I keep Mac's bento box cold. I pack it into his lunch box with three ice packs underneath it.

And speaking of cold today was the first glorious morning that our bedroom felt slightly chilled as I woke up (maybe from the ceiling fan blowing...oh and then there's the additional floor fan we have had at the foot of our bed all summer too). As good felt to pull the comforter up and snuggle into bed, it is dangerous to that whole get up and on the treadmill plan since I have a hard enough time getting out of bed.